


Dial It In

by ficfairy



Category: Ranma 1/2
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post-Wedding, Ranma-chan, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2019-11-19 01:40:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18129269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ficfairy/pseuds/ficfairy
Summary: Ryoga learns how to use a phone, hoping to talk to Akane. Ranma's the only one that answers.





	1. The First Call

Ranma let out a relaxing sigh as she ran the towel through her hair. She had worked up a serious sweat in her morning training and took longer in the bath than usual to make up for it. She looked around the empty dining area, noting an absence of the usual suspects.

Her pops wasn't on the deck playing games with Soun. Kasumi wasn't cleaning up around the house. The lack of clamor meant Akane wasn't around. Ranma squinted her eyes and looked around. While she could never be too certain of Nabiki, Ranma had learned to spot the glint of a hidden camera lens to a fifty-percent probability. Or that was at least what Nabiki wanted her to believe.

Her eyes drifted towards a small note resting on the table. 

> _Ranma,_
> 
> _Our fathers went out to see the new Lupin III film. My sisters and I went to  
>  _ _accompany them, mostly to ensure they do not get into trouble. There are  
>  sandwiches in the fridge if you get hungry._
> 
> _-Kasumi._

"Mmph." Ranma raised her eyebrow, her mouth already stuffed with tuna and bread. She swallowed, already grabbing another neatly cut triangle, before placing the piece of paper off to the side. "Maybe I should've checked if that was for me in the first place."

She shrugged. Ehh, it worked out in the end.

Ranma strolled through the empty house, taking in a deep breath. It had been a while since it had felt as calm as this; normally there would be some sort of impending tingle on the back of her neck — often causing her pigtail to reactively raise in anticipation — but instead, there was a lull in the air. Ranma closed her eyes and focused; even as she expanded her senses, a technique honed through years of training, she felt nothing.

No bickering fiancés.

No screams of 'pervert!' in the air.

No explosions occurring in the distance.

Ranma opened her eyes and stuffed her mouth — today was gonna be a good day.

_**Beepbeepbeepbeep Beepbeepbeepbeep** _

The telephone started to ring from the other room. Her pigtail raised and a soft tingle ran along the back of her neck. Ranma turned her head left and right, instinctively looking for someone to pass the buck onto.

She used a phone a few times, yeah, but it wasn't something she was particularly confident in. Usually, Akane just handed it to the pigtailed girl to answer if someone was looking for her, and in the cases where Ranma needed to make a call, she just asked one of the sisters to help her dial it in.

What if it was urgent?

_**Beepbeepbeepbeep Beepbeepbeepbeep** _

Shoot.

"Alright alright! I'm coming! Geez," Ranma swore as she stomped over towards the phone. She looked at the offending console and grimaced. It was rectangular and large, seeing as it took up a small hallway table on its own. It looked particularly fancy and probably doubled as a fax machine.

Of course Nabiki needed a fax machine.

_**Beepbeepbeepbeep Beepbeep—** _

Ranma grabbed the receiver, their grip on it like they were grasping a weapon, and practically swung it to her ear.

"Ah. Hello? Is this the Tendo house? Did I get the right number?" The voice was familiar. There seemed to be heavy rain in the background and it made the voice a little bit hazy.

"H-h-hai hello t-this is—" Ranma stuttered, instinctively raising their voice up a pitch. Ranma usually thrived in new and unfamiliar situations. But this seemed different somehow.

"Is this Kasumi?" The voice apparently knew Kasumi. "I was wondering if I could speak to Akane right now."

Ranma's eyebrow quirked.

"What do ya want with Akane?" She sounded more irritated than she intended.

"What, uh oh nothing r-really. I just— uh." The voice stuttered. "S-sorry, Kasumi. I uh, got the number last time I was over. This is my first time being on the phone. I'm a little nervous."

Ranma visibly relaxed and she untensed shoulders she didn't recall tensing up. Whoever the person was, they were just as nervous as she was. Knowing they were in the same place made the whole situation a little bit better.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped. I don't usually use the phone either." She laughed, her pigtail lowering a tad. "New technology makes me a little nervous. I'm used to more traditional ways."

"Oh?" The voice sounded curious. "I'm the same honestly. But I figured it would be easier to learn to use the telephone than trying to train a carrier pigeon again."

"A carrier pigeon?" Ranma laughed loudly. "Why not use the mail like everyone else?"

"I would but I'm a bit... challenged when it comes to addresses. I sort of just find my way to the Tendo Dojo rather than knowing where it actually is. Call it a curse." The voice sighed but seemed to be in a good mood. Ranma could imagine them smiling.

"You remind me of a..." she paused, lips trying to form the word 'friend', "...guy I know. He pops up in the dojo in the weirdest ways sometimes."

"I don't doubt it. I've seen what goes on there."

"I'm surprised I haven't seen you around honestly. I think we would have gotten along great."

"I'm guessing you're not one of the sisters then? I don't really recognize your voice."

"Really? I'm pretty sure I'm speaking normally," Ranma coughed into her fist a couple of times, attempting to clear her throat.

"Is that better?"

"Still sounding the same. I think I heard about this actually. Everyone sounds a little bit different on the telephone compared to in person. Something about how the air vibrates."

"Vibrating air, huh? That could be a really interesting technique..."

_**Brzzzt** _

"A what? Sorry? I think I cut out there for a moment."

"Don't worry about it. Just talkin' to myself. I do that a bit when I'm alone."

The voice laughed. "I don't count?"

"Oh!" She was starting to sound a little like Kasumi. "No that's not what I meant, no. Just..." She looked about her area. The house was still empty. "It's weird. I kind of feel like I'm by myself, but also not, y'know?"

"Kind of. There are a bunch of people nearby for me." Listening in carefully, Ranma could hear some voices in the background between the rain. "It's sort of like... I'm surrounded by people, but at the same time, I'm having a private conversation with you. It's a weird feeling. Definitely different from pigeon or mail."

"You mentioned you didn't want to train a carrier pigeon _again_. What happened to the others?"

There was a pause on the other end.

"...A guy gets hungry when you're on the road all the time."

Ranma couldn't help it. She laughed, practically bowling over with laughter, as she held her hand over the receiver. She tried her best to muffle the noise and not hurt the sap's feelings but she was having too much fun.

"Uh, hello?" The voice said, coming from the handset. "Is everything okay?"

"S-sorry, I'm alright. It's fine." Ranma wiped a tear from her eye and tried to wipe the smile off her face. This was the longest she had spent just talking with someone so frank. Heck, this was the longest she had spent just talking with someone at all. At least in a manner where they weren't trying to coerce her into something or ended up leading into a fight.

"Just uhm," Ranma continued, "just a bit of a cough. I had a sandwich earlier and my throat was a bit dry."

The voice sighed. He sounded relieved.

"Well, that's good. I was worried for a moment. I'm not exactly in a position to help you out anyways. What kind of sandwich?"

"Oh! It was tuna-mayo," Ranma said, coiling her finger around the cord. "It was actually really good. Normally I have it in rice-balls so it was really nice to have it in something different. Western isn't all that bad."

"This town I'm in actually has authentic pizza from America. I'll give it a try while I'm here." The guy seemed to cough as if quickly remembering the purpose of the call. "Anyways, I was calling to see if Akane was available to talk, but I assume she's busy?"

Ranma frowned. They were having a good conversation and he seemed quick to cut it short.

"Yeah, she's busy. The whole family went out to see a movie and I stayed behind for lunch."

"Shoot," the voice made a clicking noise, as if frustrated. "Sorry, it just took a lotta effort to learn how to use this phone. I was wondering if you could tell her I called?"

"Sure," Ranma said, grabbing some pen and paper. "What's your name anyways?"

"It's Ryoga."

The pen stopped.

"Hibiki Ryoga."

Ryoga. Ranma just had one of the most pleasant talks she's ever had and she had it with _**Ryoga**_!? She raised a hand to her face and wiped it in frustration. Of course, it had to be him. The jerk was just looking for another way to connect and talk with Akane without having to be near her. Heck, over the phone was probably the _only_  way he could talk to her without stumbling over his feet and chronic nosebleeds.

Of course.

Ranma couldn't just have another good thing without it being ruined by some enemy, fiancé, or both(sometimes the same person). It had to be due to some ulterior motive.

Ranma frowned.

Well she wasn't going to let that happen all willy nilly.

"That's Ryo- as in 'good' and -ga from 'fang'?" She said, trying to keep a chipper, helpful tone despite her mismatched facial features.

"Yeah, that's right." Ryoga sounded relieved.

"Well perfect," Ranma said, with fake cheer. "I'll let her know you called." 'In a thousand years, pig-for-brains.'

"Could you tell her not to call this number? I'm in some place near Aomori, and I'll be traveling. So I won't be sticking around."

"Don't you worry about that." Ranma's strained grin looked like it could've cracked teeth. "Now if that's all I must be—"

"Oh! Before you go," the voice called out just as Ranma was about the slam the headset down.

"What is it?"

"Could I get your name, miss?" Ranma paused, her eyebrows furrowed in suspicion. "It's well— uh..." Ryoga paused as well, letting the awkward silence hang.

Ranma tapped her foot as she waited for him to continue. "If that's all, then—" she moved to slam the phone down again.

"This was the nicest conversation I've had with someone!" Ryoga yelled through the receiver so clearly that Ranma could practically feel him right next to her. "I uhm—, I'm not really good at talking with people and this was the first time I've ever well... Had a chance to just talk a bit. If I call again and you pick up, I'd like to talk more."

"I'd..." Ranma paused, biting her lower lip anxiously. "Yeah uhm. Call me uh..." She racked her brain, trying to figure out something that wasn't either super obvious or something she used before. Yoiko seemed like a good one before she remembered her last Ryoga-scam. She grimaced, a pang of guilt hitting her stomach.

"Uhm... Call me... Sao... Sayoko," Ranma said, her voice mumbling and quiet. "I'm staying with the Tendos for now. And I'd..."

On one hand, Ryoga had some sort of long con and definitely wanted to use the phone to gain Akane's favor in some way. If she wasn't careful, he'd get his pig claws into and would try to take advantage of her or something.

On the other hand, this was sincerely the nicest conversation she had in a single setting.

She gulped nervously.

"I wanna talk to you more."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave any comments, questions, or concerns below! 
> 
> I'm personally a little concerned myself at perhaps writing these two a bit OOC cause they're a little too mature, but I don't necessarily think it's entirely unreasonable. Ranma and Ryoga are constantly placed in a setting of conflict, where even the few times they're working together they're constantly at each other's throats.
> 
> I wanted to see more stories like Kirinin's Happily Married, where they're mostly removed from major conflicts and can allow their interactions to blossom a bit more organically and a little more sincerely. 
> 
> I wanna see some Ranma 1/2 with metamodernism up in this.
> 
> So I did this.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Twitters:  
> @ficfairy (main)  
> 


	2. Neapolitan Heartbeats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nabiki gets curious, Ryoga calls again, and Ranma learns she needs to make some changes in her life.

"I wanna talk to you more."

It had only been a few hours since Ranma had said those words but it felt like far longer; despite having just taken a bath, the sudden surge of embarrassment sent the martial artist into a tizzy. Having changed to his male form, Ranma's limbs moved like a whirlwind ripping through the air. He tucked downwards, shifting all of his weight onto his right after before springboarding upwards and unleashing a series of helicopter kicks — each swing punctuated with a whip-like crack — before landing into a falling axe kick. The small stack of eight granite blocks didn't stand a chance.

Ranma heaved backward, placing his hands on his hips, and breathed deeply. He had a proud grin on his face. The blocks had turned into gravel so fine it would have put The Breaking Point to shame— Ranma suddenly keeled over into a small hold, holding his head in his hands.

"Haaaaaaaaaah!!" Ranma exclaimed as he rolled left and right on the dirt. "Why why why did I say that!? God it's like I was acting like a girl or something! What is wrong with me!?"

"A lot of things Ranma, did you want the list?" Nabiki's sharp tone caused Ranma to freeze in place as she walked onto the wooden porch. She was carrying a small plastic bag with several brown bags inside of it. She quirked her eyebrow at Ranma's place on the ground.

"Nabiki," Ranma groaned. He unraveled his body and splayed out atop the dirt and grass. "Weren't you supposed to be at the movies?"

"Old news Ranma," she said as she pulled out one of the brown paper bags, retrieving a small bun with pork and cheese atop it. "I ditched them the moment our fathers tried to haggle the snack bar. I've got my pride and all."

Ranma sweated just a bit. "He wasn't trying to—"

"I'm honestly surprised how quickly the fiancé card drops when given the opportunity."

Ranma facepalmed.

"Here, catch," Nabiki said as she tossed a small bag towards Ranma. He happily pulled out another bun that matched hers.

"Where'd you get these? Haven't seen- ulp- this 'round here before," he asked between bites.

"New bakery just opened up a couple of days ago. They're looking for some new staff," she said, pulling out a small nail file from her pocket. "Maybe you can check it out, maybe stop freeloading if you're not planning on marrying my sister."

Ranma frowned. It was less intimidating due to the piece of pork stuck on his lip.

"Now before we get sidetracked," Nabiki continued as she blew on her newly filed nails, "you were just about to monologue about something stupid you said. By all means, don't let me stop you."

"Yeah, no." Ranma stood up and patted the dirt out of the white gi he was wearing. "As if you need anymore dirt on me."

"So you admit it's something dirt-worthy," Nabiki said, licking her lips as a predator that had just found fresh prey. Ranma simply looked back, unfazed.

"I've been livin' here nearly two years," Ranma said as he stepped up onto the porch and sat down next to his possibly-sister-in-law. "You've got enough dirt to blackmail my grandchildren." He turned towards her and made a small circular motion with his hands. "This? This is just you bein' nosy."

Nabiki pressed a hand against her forehead and feigned fainting. "Why Ranma, how could you say such things?" She draped over the porch, her eyes overdramatically overshadowed by her hair. "I thought we were... friends... ahhh!" The drama didn't last particularly long, especially once Ranma wiped a handful of workout-sweat on the middle-sister's face.

"Agh! You little—!" Nabiki swiped her hands through the air in his direction as if trying to retaliate but Ranma quickly backflipped out of the way. "Whoops, too slow."

As Nabiki wiped her face on her arm she stared out back to Ranma's quickly retreating form. Her eyes narrowed as a small smirk graced her features. He was definitely hiding something and she was going to find out what.

* * *

The next week went by rather quickly: the only difference overall was that Ranma was suddenly far more aware of the presence of the telephone. Whenever they passed by they, at most, spared it a quick glance before going about their day. It was on the afternoon of the sixth day when Ranma found themselves alone with the phone again. The sisters were off doing their own thing: Akane on a jog, Kasumi out shopping for dinner, and Nabiki off earning money. Ranma wasn't certain where Soun and Genma were, but it was likely due to some scheme or another.

Ranma found themselves in her female form again, having just gotten out of a fight with Happosai. She disgustedly peeled a bra off her shoulder as she hopped into the house.

"Jeez, you'd think he'd give up after all this time," Ranma said as she leaned her body back, stretching until she heard a satisfying pop. She made a happy sigh as she continued to pop the rest of her joints. With all the fights that cropped up in her everyday life, Ranma had learned to enjoy the little things between the fights. Sometimes that meant ice-cream, but right now it meant joint popping.

When she finally came out of the kitchen she was spinning a small tub of rocky road balanced on her fingertips. Sometimes right now also meant ice-cream.

Ranma grinned as she cracked open the frosty shell, digging her spoon into the soft—

**Beepbeepbeepbeep Beepbeepbeepbeep**

Ranma's pigtail quirked up and she turned her head a little too quick; a silver spoon hung out of her mouth and drops of ice-cream dribbled out of her mouth. "Ah geez," she mumbled around the spoon as she tried to wipe some of the mess off on her shirt. She turned to dive into the kitchen to clean up.

**Beepbeepbeepbeep Beepbeepbeepbeep**

"I'm coming—!" Ranma yelled as she stumbled back into the living room, a roll of paper towels in her hand. She tugged perhaps a little too much and a majority of it flung off the roll and flew up into the air, spilling over her head, shoulders, and getting all over the floor. Ranma still had ice-cream on her and the silver spoon was still in her mouth. Today of all...

 **Beepbeepbeepbeep Beepbeep** —

"Hello?" Ranma said as she nestled the handset between her cheek and shoulder. "Tendo residence. Whaddya need?"

"Uh, Sayoko?" A voice asked on the other line. It sounded familiar. The background seemed to be noisy as the sound of cars in traffic was evident.

"Sayoko? I think you got the wro—" Ranma stopped. Right. Ryoga. "—uhh I think you got the right person! Ryoga right?" she said rather quickly, as if attempting to cover up her mistake.

"Actually," he chuckled nervously, "I was kind of hoping if Akane was available? I finally found a usable phone."

" _And someone that could actually speak Japanese_ ," he added quietly under his breath. Ranma laughed lightly in response.

"Sorry to be bearin' bad news but..."

There was a heavy sigh over the line.

"Argh, I knew I should have called earlier. It was just hard to find something this late at night."

"Wait," Ranma said as she quirked her eyebrow, "at night? It's like only 4 p.m. Where the heck are ya?"

"I think I'm in America. Somewhere called... Chi-car-go? Shicago? I'm not really sure. There's a lot of cars here so it's Chicargo." Ranma sweatdropped.

"You... Weren't really kidding about that directional curse, huh?"

"To be fair I should have had an idea when I used a boat to cross the Shinano River..." Ranma snickered, doing her best to muffle the noise. She wasn't doing a great job if the sigh on the other end was any indication.

"You could probably have jumped the Shinano if you really tried, i-if those martial art stories I've heard about are anything to go by."

"I'm..." Ryoga paused, making a low and small 'hmm' as he thought. "I'm a bit a hydrophobic. Not exactly a fan."

"...So why did you go on a boat?" Ranma said, her face showing incredulous confusion.

The line was quiet for several moments. Ranma almost hung up, thinking the line had gone dead.

Ryouga coughed, as if clearing his throat as well as his dignity. "...In good news, by the way, I finally got to try some authentic pizza."

Ranma just grinned widely. Figures. "Got some in Chicargo?"

"No, Italy actually. The crust is completely different in Naples. I finally realized that 'neapolitan' meant its from Naples."

"Here I thought it meant a type a' ice-cream," Ranma said, wondering if Italy and America were really that close to one another.

"Apparently it's both!"

"Ice-cream _and_ pizza? Now you're just pulling my leg."

Ryoga laughed heartily. "Whatever god you believe in, I swear on it." Before Ranma got to reply, Ryoga continued. "So anyways, tell me about yourself. How was your week?"

Ranma's eyes immediately bugged out. "Uh. Uhm-!" She stalled. She had no idea what she was supposed to talk about or who Sayoko actually was. A martial artist? Ranma shook her head quickly. No that'd be too obvious. School? No one gave a shit about school! What did Ranma actually do or know outside of martial arts? Ranma scrambled to rack her brain to think of something, anything she knew. It'd have to be—!

"Sayoko?" Ryoga said, startling the red-head to the point the handset almost flew out of her hands.

"Waitress! Kinda! No! Uh-!" Ranma slapped her forward. How was this so damn hard!? "I'm uhm uh..."

"Hey hey, shh, it's okay." Ryoga's voice was... calm for once as he tried to soothe her. "Do you get nervous? It sounds like you do."

Ranma nodded on her end, not realizing Ryoga couldn't see her. He continued anyways.

"Put your hand on your chest. Make a small fist, super tight. Put in some strength. Breathe in as you squeeze it tight." His voice was like honey and, unlike the norm where he shouted at her across a field, deep and close as if he were whispering into her ear directly. "Can you do that for me?"

She did. She could feel her entire body tense up.

"Breathe out slowly, let your chest fall. Unclench that fist, and let it rest against your heart."

She did. She could feel her heartbeat slow down.

"W-where... Did you learn this?" Ranma asked slowly, as she did it one more time.

"I've got..." She could hear some rustling, as if he were scratching the back of his head. "Some anger issues to work through. This old lady taught me this trick a few months ago. It's helped me calm down a lot."

"...Thanks. Really. Sorry about that," Ranma rasped out slowly as she could feel her body relax. "I'm just... I'm not really used to talking to people... ever. Honestly, ever."

"It's alright," Ryoga responded, chuckling softly. "I'm the same really. And hey, you don't have to say anything you don't want to."

Ranma felt a tick of guilt in her chest. The asshole had to say that much. Her lips went tight and the redhead felt herself feel more than a little helpless. Ryoga was the one constantly leading their conversations. He traveled, he learned, he... grew. All while Ranma stayed in Nerima, fighting the same fights and doing the same thing day in and day out. All she did was... respond to her environment. Respond to him. Eventually he'd grow bored. Eventually he'd end up catching Akane. Eventually he'd want to stop talking to boring old Sayoko.

Something needed to change.

"No, no, it's okay. I'm just..." she laughed a bit to herself. "I was planning on getting a job soon actually. At this bakery nearby. I guess I just didn't know what to say about it."

"That's really exciting! Probably more interesting than my job," he said, laughing a bit. In the background, it sounded like someone was talking angrily towards him. "Hey uh, I gotta get going. Talk to you soon?"

He wanted to talk to her again.

"Yeah, I should be free—"

"I get it, but I can't hang up on her!" He yelled, causing Ranma to pull away from the receiver. "Sorry, can't stay. Talk later, bye!" A click and dial tone soon followed, leaving Ranma to look quizzically at the handset.

As she walked away she spotted a small box of baked goods on the kitchen counter. In seconds, Ranma was juggling a bun and already stuffing herself with another.

"Guess I'm applyin' there," she mumbled to herself between bites. "Wonder what he meant when—" The bun in the air tumbled onto the floor.

She realized something.

"Crap, my ice-cream!" Ranma exclaimed as she went over to the phone, staring in lament at her half-melted dessert. She stared at the telephone for a moment and, just as she was about to turn around to toss her dessert into the freezer, she stopped again, realizing something she had missed in the conversation.

"Wait, Ryoga has a job?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave any comments, questions, or concerns below!
> 
> I'm really happy at the attention this fic has pulled in! Admittedly, I was worried the fandom had more than died out by now. Even in the heyday, Ranma/Ryoga wasn't as popular as I wanted it to be so I imagined even less so would be interested in some silly fluff piece like this.
> 
> There's still too much OOC'ness in here, but I think I've just been spoiled by all the mature behavior I saw in past Ranma/Ryoga fics. I think it's somewhat indicative of their relationship: they can only really mesh as well as they do when they learn to stop being so uppity and to grow up a little. Even in the amazing Magical Girl Ranko vs Z Fighter Ryouga, where they capture the high energy of their interactions, they end up maturing in the end anyways, allowing them to get along.
> 
> Toon in next time I guess! I hope yall are enjoying this self-indulgent thing~
> 
> Twitters:  
> @ficfairy (main)  
> 


	3. Momentary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranma gets a job, but life just seems to blur around her instead of getting better. It's hard to imagine something's missing but it is.

_**Jingle Jingle** _

Nabiki and Akane slowly strolled into the softly-colored bakery, breezing through the propped open door to the establishment. The bakery had warm colored wooden floors and cream walls. The furniture was a mix of peach-colored tables and dark brown chairs, with a matching front desk and display. It would have been easy to mistake the place as a chocolate shop if it were not for the fluffy breads stacked on racks and a warm, nutty scent in the air. Behind the counter was a doorway with a short, white curtain decorating it.

"Helloooo?" Nabiki said, her voice echoing slightly.

"Is that a customer?" A female voice cried from behind the curtain."

"Ranma go go, I'll handle this!"

"Ahhhhhhh!! Okay! Hold tight!"

From behind the curtain a partly red blur peeked from behind before hopping a bit towards the counter. Ranma raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise before letting out a bright, wide grin. She leaned forward, resting her elbows onto the counter and propped her head up with an arm.

"Akane, Nabiki. Welcome to Lait et Brioche. What can I do ya for?"

"We're here visiting," Akane said, holding up a small basket, "I figured we'd pick up some things while we were here."

Nabiki stood in front of the counter's large glass display, her hand on her chin. "Admittedly," she said, "I was a bit surprised you suddenly took my advice the other week. Can I get two ham and cheese buns and an eclair."

"Comin' right up," Ranma said, moving towards the counter. Aside from her regular style of clothes, she also had on a white apron with anime-like bread designs and brown stitching. Her hair was held back a bit with a white kerchief. With quick movements, Ranma had two brown paper bags and was quickly already moving to fill them up with the order.

"Hold up," Nabiki said, holding up her hand in a 'Stop' motion. "Let's make that 2 pizza buns, a ginger snap, and 4 cookies."

"Comin' right up," Ranma said, her voice a little strained as she put the first bags to the side, before moving to fill up the bags with snacks.

"Hmmm, wait," Nabiki was barely suppressing the snicker on her face. "Make that 5 tuna-corn buns, 8 eclairs, and 2 slices of cake-OW!" Nabiki exclaimed as she gingerly held her head, the sudden karate shop interrupting her thoughts. Akane stood behind her, her battle aura quickly dissipating as she lowered her hand.

"Nabiki!" Akane exclaimed, "He's actually trying to do something good for once."

"Actually uh-," Ranma started.

"Jeez Akane, when were you were on his side? Here I figured you'd be wondering what's his angle."

"His angle?"

"Hey! Shhhhh keep it down," Ranma said, putting her finger to her lips. "The boss doesn't know I'm a guy so keep it quiet."

"Sorry sorry," both sisters said in unison.

"You've been here two weeks and he doesn't have a clue? What about when you get around water?" Akane said as she moved towards the display herself.

"Nah. The boss handles all the dough and yeast things 'imself so usually I handle the front," Ranma grinned.

"Oh," Ranma quickly went back to the display and pulled out a few slices of cake and a pair of chocolate donuts. "But he's been letting me top up the cakes and dip donuts. I'm gettin' real good too, check it!"

"Wow, these look so good! I wouldn't have guessed you made them," Akane laughed, waving her hand dismissively. She then turned to her sister "It looks like she's doing well here. So what do you mean, 'what's her angle'?"

"Oh come on sis, you don't think Ranma's got some scheme, some technique to learn, or that the owner doesn't have anything over her?" Nabiki raised her eyebrow as Ranma handed over the two bags of goodies. "I don't have a yen to my name that I'm not willing to bet that she doesn't have an angle."

Akane pouted and furrowed her brows, seemingly in thought.

"So Ranma," Nabiki turned back to the redhead in the apron, "what's your angle?"

"Isn't that usually my line?" She quipped in response.

"Stuff it Saotome," Nabiki responded, holding a hand on her hip. "You got something for me, or do we have to keep up the song and dance here?"

Ranma looked a bit nervous, her eyes darting left and right. She was evidently in thought for several moments before her shoulders eventually sagged.

"I don't got nothin' really," she sighed. "I just... needed a change. Aside from the Art I don't really have much goin' on. And part of the Art is picking up new things all the time." She leaned forward on her elbows. "So I wanted something to do. Something to-," she paused, and Nabiki noted a soft pink hue on Ranma's face, "something to talk about..."

Nabiki's eyebrows only narrowed in suspicion.

"Well Ranma," Akane said, stepping up and opening up her purse, "some of us welcome the change. Especially when it nets us a family discount." She elbowed Nabiki in the side. "Don't we, sis?"

"Yeaaah, I suppose. I'm certainly not going to complain about a discount." Nabiki turned a bit on her heel and started to walk out the way they came in.

"I'm just saying," she said, pausing at the entrance, her hand resting against the doorframe, "you don't start digging holes when there's nothing to bury."

Nabiki waved her hand lightly, as if saying 'toodles', and left the bakery. Ranma and Akane stared at each other for just a moment before laughing at the situation.

* * *

_**Click** _

Pierre Couteau let out a soft sigh as he lowered the phone receiver to the base. The blond faced man scribbled a few notes in a binder to his side and tapped his pen against the table.

"Ranma, could you please come in please?" He said rather loudly through his office doorway. Within seconds a small redhead was bouncing into his office as she wiped her hands on her apron.

"Yeah, boss? What's up?" She asked quickly. "Plannin' on letting me prep the chocolate for tomorrow?"

"Close, but a bit more than that my dear," Pierre said, not noticing the tiny twitch of Ranma's pigtail. She knew he meant nothing by it, but being called pet-names in any fashion was an uncomfortable feeling. Ukyo and Shampoo's frequent outcries of it practically trained her to always be on guard when she heard similar affections.

"That's the fifth catering request this day alone," he continued, "I'm effectively booked up for the next two weeks.

"Admittedly I'm surprised we've garnered as much attention as we have." He looked up at Ranma, "And I'm fairly certain it's due to the lovely help. I don't know if you're a blessing or a curse."

"Hah. Hah. Curse. Uh, good one boss." Ranma combed her fingers through her pigtail nervously.

"All in all, what it means is that I'll barely have the time to run the shop, let alone do all the additional work," he sighed heavily. "Eventually I'm going to need to take on more help. But until then, I need to ask if you're able to work longer hours until then. I'm suggesting evenings and the next two weekends."

The man looked up at her pleadingly. "Please, miss Ranma. I can even offer you a bonus."

"Ah geez boss," Ranma sheepishly scratched the back of her head, "you already pay me pretty well and all. If you need me that badly I don't mind."

"Ah mon cheri," he exclaimed, rising up from his chair and taking her hand, "thank you so much! You're an angel!"

"Of course," she said, grinning from ear to ear, "I'm the best around. Martial artist, baker assistant, angel, whatever!"

Pierre clapped his hands together. "Magnifique! You should think about what you want with your bonus! But for now, let's get you started on the soda bread!"

"No way!"

* * *

**< 1 week later>**

Ranma trudged her way through the quiet Nerima streets, her feet practically dragging behind her. She had been through rampant fiances, nightmare training, and going to literal hell and back, but still, she had never been so exhausted in her life. Not only had she accepted extended evenings, but mornings on top of that. If Pierre could, she had no excuse not to. She pictured the growing dark circles around the man's eyes and she shuddered.

It wasn't the most physically exerting work she'd ever been through, but the lack of sleep and constant high pace, between working the orders as well as the daily operations, were running her ragged.

It wasn't even on top of the near misses she's had with her various rivals. While the rumor of her picking up work somewhere was circulating around, Ranma had convinced Nabiki to run a misinformation campaign. Despite that, there were more than a few cases where a wandering Mousse, Shampoo, Kudo, or Ukyo either passed by or nearly missed entering her work. When that happened it set operations back  _even further_  and they had to make up the time somehow.

Ranma tilted her eyes upwards, catching the moon in her gaze, and sighed. And in all this, she knew there was just one thing she was missing.

"Stupid idiot," she mumbled to herself.

The martial artist barely had the energy to skip along the rooftops so instead, she walked slowly through the streets. She didn't mind walking around this late at night. Nerima was a fairly rural ward so most of the house-lights were dark and there was barely a soul on the street. Compared to the more hectic daytime, Nerima at night almost felt like a different town. Ranma looked off to the side, staring down the nearby river canal. She opened her mouth as if to say something but closed it quickly shut. 

Ranma clenched her fist.

She didn't know why life seemed to slow down lately despite it only speeding up. Ranma could think back in the last few weeks and could detail dozens of small, innocuous memories she normally didn't bother caring about. But now she did. Fights were easy to focus on just as easy they were to forget. Ranma could remember fixating on each challenge in front of her for days at a time, only for the memory of it to be shunted to the side when the next combatant of the week showed up. Every moment was hectic and exciting, just as they were forgettable. 

Ranma realized, right then and there, that she was looking for things to remember. Things to talk about.

"Stupid," she said, chiding herself as she walked through the Nerima streets.

As she finally arrived at the Tendo dojo she looked up at the building only for her vision to spin.

Wake up. Work. School. Work. Home. Sleep.

Wake up. Work. School. Work. Home. Sleep.

Wake up. Work. School. Work. Home. Sleep.

Ranma pressed her hand against the sliding wooden door and slipped in quietly. She spotted a clock from the wall. 11:00PM. With the household filled with martial artists, she knew everyone was already tucked in, ready to wake at five the following day. Maybe if she slept right now she could get maybe five hours, maybe six if her father didn't have a surprise for her that morning.

As she passed by the telephone Ranma did her best not to stare down towards it. As she went into the kitchen to grab water, she did her best to glance at the receiver. Ranma moved into the living room and turned on a small lamp before collapsing onto the dinner table. She slumped her head towards the phone again yet again before burying her head between her arms. The room felt small around her.

"What am I doing," she groaned, her voice muffled. "I shouldn't care. I don't care."

It had been three weeks since her last phone call with Ryoga. The wait hadn't bothered her before. She knew it was hard to get a phone wherever he was. She knew it wasn't like she had the ability to call him herself. She also knew their phone didn't have any way to record messages. She was painfully aware of that fact.

Ranma felt tired; she felt stupid. Stupid for waiting around this late at night on the off chance he might call. Stupid for wondering how he was doing. Stupid for taking a job just so she could talk about it only for the person she wanted to talk to just up and vanish.

The exhausted martial artist simply nuzzled her head into her arms. Her warm, soft arms. It wouldn't have been the first time she had fallen asleep on the table, and life was just getting so, so stressful. Normally she preferred sleeping with her pops, wanting any sort of company as she slept. But lately, it had felt lonely even then.

"Just... just gonna rest my eyes."

Somehow, it just felt less lonely here.

* * *

**< 1:13AM>**

A dark shadow slowly made its way down the stairs of the Tendo household. It paused for just a moment at the bottom, quizzically staring at the figure sleeping at the table. It slowly made its way to the soft lamp illuminating the room, before clicking it off softly, as if not to disturb its nearby guest.

The figure stared downwards at the sleeping pigtailed-girl resting on the table. It softly unwrapped a bundle around their arms, then draping the blanket around Ranma's shoulders.

"Snnrk.. Jus... jus call already dumbass..."

Kasumi paused for a moment, blinking her eyes in soft surprise. She homemaker looked towards the phone resting on the hallway table before looking back down towards Ranma. Her eyebrows furrowed in worry before leaning down to adjust the blanket over Ranma's shoulders. She quietly shuffled across the room towards the phone with grace not unknown to a former martial artist.

[1 Missed Call, 12:57AM]

"Oh I missed it again," she said, tilting her head in quizzically. Kasumi gently pressed the 'Clear' button before slowly making her way back up the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! Hope you like this one. Somehow a lot happens despite nothing happening at the same time. This isn't some sort of drama so I'm sorry there aren't any massive twists here and there. I just want to write what I like. I wanted to write a bunch of loosely connected scenes and see how that worked.
> 
> I kind of see fluff writing like a road trip. It's the journey, not the destination I care about. I hope yall enjoy the trip. Put in that mix tape and let's see where we can go.
> 
> If you're wondering about Nabiki and my feelings towards her, I don't hate her. She's honestly one of my favorite characters. But let's be real, that nosiness of hers practically writes itself as a dramatic antagonist. I've got a love for her, and it's from that love I see her value in this role.
> 
> Twitter: @ficfairy


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